Arson, arrests as Myanmar leader visits restive area

THANDWE, Myanmar : Myanmar’s president on Thursday met communities in an area convulsed by deadly anti-Muslim violence, after mobs torched property and police fired warning shots to try to restore order.

“The police opened fire to control the situation,” the official said, adding that two houses on the outskirts of Thandwe owned by a local Muslim were torched but no one was injured.

The man was allegedly involved in a verbal argument with a Buddhist tuk tuk driver that sparked the initial unrest at the weekend. His house in Thandwe was burned by a mob and he has since been arrested by local police on unknown charges.

Muslim families fled into forests in terror after Tuesday’s violence, which saw a mob of some 800 Buddhist thugs set alight dozens of homes in their village on the outskirts of Thandwe.

A 94-year-old woman was knifed to death in the rioting, which happened near the popular tourist destination of Ngapali Beach.